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Monday, December 18, 2017

Not my usual photographic cup of tea. However, it is good to learn new things.

The tour met in the city. There were only four of us plus the tutor. After an intro and some examplars, we hit the streets of downtown Auckland.

Apparently, impressionist and abstract photography is all about mood and atmosphere. I tend to photograph things that 'look nice' rather than think about mood or atmosphere and I am not sure I really kept mood and atmosphere in the front of my head when taking these pix. However, I like the look of them 😉

I think all of these were shot in tv-mode with slow shutter speeds. I liked not worrying about keeping the camera still - even more so, being encouraged to move the camera and/or lens while the shutter was open. Breaking 'rules' can be fun.

Not sure, this is a style I want to pursue. I would like to learn about multi-exposures though.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

I awoke on the final day of the long long weekend to rain. So much rain, I called into The Warehouse to buy an umbrella!

I had 'saved' taking photos of Oamaru until the final day of my trip and given the pouring rain it was fairly deserted for the first couple of hours.

I couldn't believe this massive church around the corner from the motel I stayed. It looks like it belongs in some big city overseas. St Patrick's Basilica is at the top end of Usk Street which runs all the way down to the sea. I imagine in the olden days people walked up the road to church from their houses on the railway line and harbour. I guess it also speaks to the wealth that used to be in Oamaru. According to google, the church was founded in 1894 and it took 25 years to complete!

I then drove the couple of kilometres into the historic precinct and walked around in the pouring rain where I randomly rain into a colleague and her husband while crossing the street. The rain made for nice colours and good reflections.

I would thoroughly recommend a visit to Oamaru. It's a great central place to base yourself for day trips and the history, I think, makes it unlike any other place in NZ. Now if only my school was there ...

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Inspired by some IG photos of St Bathan's, on the third day of the long long weekend, I headed south from Oamaru to Palmerston and then inland to North Central Otago.

NZ's goldrush happened in the 1860s so there are a lot of historic buildings down that way. Central Otago is now known for the 'rail trail' were people ride bikes for days alongside disused railway lines. Rather them than me. I detoured to Naseby on my way back and it's reinvented itself as a mountain biking destination. It turns out my sister-in-law's grandparents used to live in Naseby.

Like the day before, my final destination was a let down because it was blowing a gale at St Bathan's which whipped up the water, and the sky was grey. Next time!

Thursday, November 30, 2017

To reach the Clay Cliffs outside Omarama you take a shingle road. The most corrugated road I have ever driven is the one to Bodie State Park, in the wops of California. The road to the Clay Cliffs of Omarama is the second most corrugated road I have ever driven. And there was a fair amount of traffic on it too.

I felt quite underwhelmed by the cliffs. They don't compare to the beautiful national parks of the southwest USA. And they are probably not supposed to. But I had in my head beautiful blue sky and 'red' rock formations like Arches and Bryce. Nope.

I got to Omarama via the settlement of Earthquakes.There I climbed (as in walked up a steep hill) to see some fossilised whale bones.

On my way to Omarama I thanked the South Island for all the electricity they generate for the North Island as I drove around Lake Aviemore to Benmore.

Returning through Kurow I thought this garage below possibly has the best paint job in the whole of NZ.

And I loved these Oamaru stone figures just coming into Kurow overlooking the memorial oak trees. 400 oak trees were planted in 1919 to commemorate the locals who did not return home after the first World War. You can read more about the commemorative oaks here.

So while the Clay Cliffs were underwhelming, I found lots of interesting and scenic phototunities on the way there and back.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Elephant Rocks are in a privately owned paddock on the Island Cliff - Duntroon Road in the Maerewhenua Valley. You can't see much from the road and could easily drive straight past this impressive display of local limestone.

After a one minute wander through the paddock, free of livestock, still wondering that was going to appear, the paddock opened into a big, wide and low bowl of green grass and limestone.

None of the rocks resembled elephants. Some looked like hippos and some like crocodile heads.

It was a very quiet and serene place to wander around taking photos. It was another New Zealand is really beautiful moment for me. I was glad I stopped for a visit.

Friday, November 24, 2017

On the second day of my long weekend away, I ventured inland to the clay cliffs at Omarama. While the clay cliffs were underwhelming, there were lots of phototunities along the way.

I went inland via the Weston Ngapara Road. The first phototunity came at Weston. Weston has a beautiful Oamaru stone hall built in 1890 and just around the corner from that a lovely old church. The corrugated iron fence between the church and its neighbour had been turned into a graffiti board for local youth. It was horrible and quite a juxtaposition to the lovely church. In my experience very few children are into graffiti or tagging. I couldn't name one from the 46 Yr 9 children I teach. It's such a stereotyped view of youth!

A few kilometres up the road and literally on the side of the road in Ngapara, I came across the vibrant Milligan's Eclipse flour mill built in 1896. I assumed it was an abandoned building, but it is still in use. Not for flour but for animal nutrition products. There is an article about the change in use here. Those 'bricks' are thick. The windows are inset about 30cm.

Then I came across another beautiful community - memorial hall. I love the colours and the straightlines. In the second photo you can see the chimney. Imagine the inside with a roaring fire going. I did not love the dog that came running out of the neighbour's place to see what I was doing. I was glad it ran on down the road to visit someone else!